Price Chopper has laid off 80 employees at its corporate headquarters, the chain announced Wednesday.

The layoffs include management, field, clerical and administrative support workers, according to a statement from the company. When the new headquarters opened four years ago in Schenectady, company officials said more than 700 people would be employed there.

"Today is a very challenging day for all of us, as the current business climate has led us to eliminate approximately 80 positions in the company — some through attrition and some with incumbents," said Price Chopper CEOJerry Golub in a statement. "The decisions were not made lightly, as we understand the impact that they have on families and communities. We are doing everything possible to ease this transition for our displaced teammates, by way of severance packages, extended benefits and outplacement services."

Jonathan Pierce, a public relations spokesman, said Price Chopper would make no statement beyond its news release.

In the statement, Golub cited a number of causes for the decision, including increased competition, rising costs and a reduction in federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aid to low-income people that has reduced revenues.

"Operating a retail business that lives on narrow margins and employs 22,000 people has become increasingly more challenging, given today's realities," Golub said in the statement. "Skyrocketing health care costs, rising commodity and fuel costs, rising wages and reduced SNAP benefits, on top of increased competition from a variety of food and non-food businesses that have added food to their mix, have made it more imperative than ever for us to become as efficient as possible in order to best position the company for long-term success."

Price Chopper has faced increased competition in recent years. In addition to longtime rival Hannaford, ShopRite has opened four stores in the Capital Region since October 2011. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have opened stores on Wolf Road in Colonie, and the Honest Weight Food Co-Op opened a new, larger store in Albany. Healthy Living Market opened in Wilton Mall, The Fresh Market has opened stores in Latham and Saratoga Springs, and Target and Walmart have entered the grocery competition.

In April 2013, Price Chopper announced it was laying off 34 workers, in addition to 46 positions it had cut through attrition. The chain said at the time it had also added 10 other jobs.

None of the latest job cuts were in the chain's stores. Price Chopper recently opened its new concept store, Market Bistro by Price Chopper in Latham. It is preparing to open a new store in Watervliet and is expanding its stores in Clifton Park and Loudonville.

"Store-level positions were not impacted, as we continue to focus our energies on elevating the shopping experience for our customers, modernizing our brand and inventing our next generation of stores," Golub said in his statement. "Despite the difficulty of the decisions implemented today, we are very optimistic about the future of our company and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead. Though painful, these actions serve to better position Price Chopper as we move forward, both strategically and competitively."